Employment discrimination refers to the illegal practice of making employment decisions based on an employee's age, race, sex, religion, national origin, or physical disability. The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person's race, sex, religion, place of birth, or social status and government authorities worked to enforce these provisions with varying degrees of success. The law prohibits discrimination in the workplace, but enforcement was inadequate. In both rural and urban areas, women were paid less than men for the same job.

Women experienced economic discrimination in access to employment and credit, which acted as an impediment to women owning a business. The promotion of women to managerial positions within businesses often was slower than that of males. State governments supported micro credit programs for women that began to have an impact in many rural districts.